The appointments of chairman and three members of Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) have come under Punjab and Haryana high court's scanner.

The appointments of chairman and three members of Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) have come under Punjab and Haryana high court's scanner.

Taking up a public interest litigation filed by Vikender Malik and Victor Robinson of Hisar, a division bench comprising acting chief justice MM Kumar and justice Alok Singh issued notices of motion to Haryana, HSSC chairman and three members for filing their replies before May 31.

HSSC chairman Vijay Kumar was appointed on October 21, 2011, whereas Viney Sharma, Ashok Kumar Jain and Ram Saran Bhola were made members vide notification dated October 31, 2011.

The petitioner has sought quashing of the appointment notification on the grounds that all the appointments were made without issuance of advertisements or by adopting any other transparent procedure for determining the comparative merit of the candidates.

It was alleged that the appointments were made by pick-and-chose policy without following the directions for transparent selection for such responsible posts issued by the high court last year in a case pertaining to the appointment of HR Dhanda as chairman of Punjab Public Service Commission.

The petitioners have also impleaded state education minister Geeta Bhukkal, former chief secretary Urvashi Gulati and state legal remembrancer Aaradhna Sawhney as they were members of the board that recommended the names of candidates for the posts.